Advertising is both simple and complicated these days. Sure. Almost anyone can do some basic graphic design and slap an ad on social media. Making a 3 minute video is easily accomplished on your phone. But trying to actually get the word out to a specific market when folks are being flooded with so much information every second of the day takes thought.

How much more thought would it have taken to advertise an exclusive boarding school for boys? Then add in the fact that the Los Alamos Ranch School was in the middle of nowhere. We are still in the middle of nowhere. But life before Google Maps, satellite imagery, and in an age when newsprint ads had to be physically sent to a printing office would have made things even more difficult!

So how did the Los Alamos Ranch School get the word out? Brochures. Lots and lots of brochures. While some of these have survived time and are preserved deep inside the Los Alamos History Museum Archives, Ashley Pond Junior’s first brochure in 1917 carried the title, “An Outdoor School for Boys”. And that is how they sold the school.

There was no doubt that attendance was a major concern of the ranch school. The program was certainly worth the pricey tuition. In 1935, Los Alamos was the first western boarding school to have an examiner on the College Board. Art Chase was the first to serve on the English Board, followed by Harry Walen. In 1926 and again in 1936, a graduate of the Los Alamos Ranch School was ranked #1 in the freshman class at Princeton.

Anecdotal tales from graduates of the ranch school recall the individualized educational opportunities. “Virgil in the Wilderness” when students trekked into the mountains to learn Latin or read poetry. When they were encouraged to expand their minds while using their hands. Laboratory equipment was in short supply, but the Los Alamos Ranch School Masters were young, intelligent, and always finding ways to demonstrate concepts in the real world with equipment handy around the ranch.

School Masters were recruited from the best graduating college classes around the country. Men like Lawrence Hitchcock and Art Chase set a precedent for Masters to continue studies in their field. They would leave the ranch school for a semester or two, or perhaps a shorter time, and do advanced work in their field. Then they would return and share what they’d learned with the students. It was a varied curriculum, and yet the very way this was set up advertised the Los Alamos Ranch School from coast to coast. Our graduates were showing up in college lecture halls with robust health, great minds, and a desire to learn and put that education into practice. It made for the best kind of advertising!

And the rest of the advertising was done via photographs. Photos in magazines Large photo spreads in newspapers and brochures. Photos of the ranch students were sold and used as postcards and holiday greeting cards. And why not? This is still happening today! How many times do you travel up or down our Main Hill Road and see folks in the pullouts taking pictures with whatever device they can lay hands on?

Most of the photos used to advertise the school featured the boys outdoors in dramatic scenery. Most were student photos or those taken by the Masters while out on patrols or camping. All are absolutely stunning.

So next time somebody wants to know what’s so great about Los Alamos, just whip out your phone and take a picture for them. Our dramatic scenery, amazing history, and long standing tradition of outdoor pursuits makes this a special place to live. I feel lucky to be a part of this community and when you’re ready to join me, give me a call. I’m your hometown real estate broker and I’d love to talk Los Alamos real estate with you!